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Frozen Mango Lime Lassi

If you've ever woken up coated with a coarse and perversely intimate film of overnight-fermented perspiration, there's a good chance you were in southwestern Ontario during the summer. Quite possibly you also spent the night in my apartment, where the otherwise kind and solicitous landlady downstairs considers it a matter of policy never to turn on the air conditioner until July regardless of the weather. If there is one redeeming quality to this policy it is that even the cat can't lift himself up enough to drag himself around on his daily annoy-the-human rounds, but that's a poor compensation when I haven't the energy to appreciate it, assuming that I'd have the energy to get annoyed in the first place.

I've lately considered bribing her with food to reverse this austerity program, fearing that she could easily dismiss any thuds overhead I might make pretending to faint with the heat. But the food strategy has its drawbacks too, since she might conclude that the heat can't be too bad if I've got the energy to make something for her. And, of course, it presupposes that I actually do have the energy!

But she'd be right too, even if it goes against my best interest to say so, if this past Sunday is any indication. Despite a couple of cups of hot coffee, or maybe because of it, I was too enervated in the drenching morning heat to even have an appetite … which is where this recipe for frozen mango lime lassi comes in, for those of you who remember the post title. Oddly satisfying in an ice-cream milkshake kind of way, it was all I really felt like I had the stomach for to get myself going, or as far going as I would be able to go when the temperature inside is over 30°. Cold, smooth and creamy except for a few delectable small chunks of barely thawed sweet mango floating around, and with the refreshing blast of fresh lime juice, this lassi is a super hot-weather step up from the ordinary mango lassi found in Indian restaurants, as much as I enjoy them too. It's a perfect afternoon drink to serve when you're entertaining guest on the patio in the summer, but I had it for breakfast!

And I guess it worked too, since I proceeded right after that to stay in my scorching kitchen to whip up, in order, my Indian-style gazpacho soup, another batch of cocoa fruit treats, a pan of peanut-butter-chocolate squares to take to work and which recipe I'll be sharing shortly, and a batch of harissa for a friend — all without stopping except to occasionally wipe my brow to keep sweat from dripping in the food. So here's to frozen mango lime lassi, even if I'm now almost too bushed to write about it.

Based in London, Ontario, a veteran vegetarian for 22 years serves up a collection of delicious culinary creations from her kitchen, with an emphasis on spicy Indian dishes and whole foods. If you want to know what sensible vegetarians eat, Lisa's Kitchen is the place to be.